How to get more participation on wristchecks?

[plaifender]

Hey y'all,

Was thinking about this earlier this week and figured I'd post my thoughts. When it comes to wrist checks.. I LOVE THEM, I don't always post, but try to very often. I'm starting to realize (yeah.. after almost 4 years of being here), that it seems like we're always the same basic group of guys posting. Noobs almost NEVER participate, and we're a forum of 24,000 members for crying out loud. In my opinion doesn't seem like there are more than about 50-100 peopole that post at least once a week, and in general a normal post includes the watches of about 20-40 people. The majority of which are all pretty classic, conservative but beautiful rolexes.. an ocassional pam, breitling or omega.. barely ever any iwc's (besides the 3717). Barely ever see any B&Rs, APs, Corums, Oris, Tag.. etc. Not sure If i'm being clear, but everything posted tends to be your standard standard fare, with not much diversity.. (due to the fact that the same group of Vets often post!)

My question... How do you guys think we can garner more participation on the Wristcheck posts? I'd love to see a lot more watches.. and interesting photos.

Changing the thread to a continuing thread... a weekly thread.. a monthly thread? keep it as a daily thread? Not sure..

Any ideas? shoot!

Greetings from Madrid!

-Fender

[freddy333]

My experience is that many do not post wristies because they lack (or fear they lack) the requisite picture-taking skills. After all, what is the point of posting watch pics that look like they are taken with the specific purpose of scamming ebay buyers. That is, small, dark & out-of-focus.

And for those of you who feel a high end camera is needed, you could not be more wrong. The vast majority of my pics are taken with a 10 year old 4MP Canon A80 point-&-shoot, & I think I get by. If you are unsure of your skills, please read Pugwash's outstanding (pinned) How to Photograph Watches articles. After letting Pug show you the basics, just practice taking pictures. That is the way most of us learned.

1 other thing - for every 1 great picture you see, it is likely (more than likely in my case ) that the picture taker took dozens of pics to get that 1 good pic.

[Stephane]

Hey there sunny Madrid!

I share your opinion that it would be very cool to see more diveristy in the wrist threads.

We had a cycle of three per week: monday, midweek and friday.

The particpation was the same as lately.

About the few participation, I think that most of us are lazy

About diversity in watches...well, if only the same guys are posting, it's normal that we see the same watches all the time as they are their prefered ones.

About new members not posting, it's probably because they do not take so many photos yet.

They might even be "shy" to post their photos because some of the usual poster's photos are simply perfect!

What to do?

Well, what you did here is a good starting point

Ask everyone to post more often in the wrist check threads

Cheers from freezing Brussels

Stephane

[sul]

Monday WC, Tuesday WC, Friday WC, Saturday WC etc...maybe it is a little bit boring already and lot of people don`t have time to do WC almost every day.

+ ~70% WC watches are Rolex, 15% are PAM`s... Nothing new to look unfortunately usually. Rolex for example is nice watch, but no exciting watch to look-it is too well know`n and common brand.

One WC per week has to be more ok I think. Or can we do "Rolex, PAM free" week WC sometimes ?

Or maybe it is just me

PS) 40-50cm snow in here, I don`t like snow any more( I have low car with sport suspension and RWD... no good driving in deep snow )

[Cats]

I don't think it's a matter of time involved cause it takes less then 2 minutes to post

a wristcheck. ( if you have some taken upfront and available in photobucket )

Indeed you see a small group of posters in this section.

Maybe a wristy of the week contest for the new posters will bring more new posters in.

Today it's raining here and the road is real slippery.

Carpe Diem

Cats

[Nanuq]

I don't post wristchecks any more because you've seen all my good photos already... correction both my good photos.

Minus 10F here tonight, wads of snow, stout north wind blowing, gusting to 50mph. Woo hooooo!

[StormTooper4]

I mentioned some time ago that I felt an individual daily wrist check was overkill. it used to be Start, Hump and weekend, also the lack of a grading system is disappointing as that what drew me to RWG in the first place and the ease at which you could give a star to people and it made more fun and interactive. Personally I've had issues with seeing imageshack thumbnails on my new mac at home so choosing a picture has actually been near enough impossible , but now occasionally it works randomly so I will put some more effort it. But my personal feeling is that RWG is just a far too intimidating place for the noob to venture these days, I notice that on the other forums that cheap cheerful watches are welcomed and congratulated on, but over here that sort of thing just doesn't happen that often, and if it does more often or not it is criticized. I wish it was different and that people would post their unusual and interesting reps , when was the last time someone got their Picot , Millie, Graham or Dubuis out or something that was just out of the box or less than $150 job . I think we are all missing out , which is a shame. Sometimes I think Watcheden has more interesing wrist checks than the main forum.

anyway It was about 32c here today , right nice and toasty

[Stephane]

...RWG is just a far too intimidating place for the noob to venture these days, I notice that on the other forums that cheap cheerful watches are welcomed and congratulated on, but over here that sort of thing just doesn't happen that often, and if it does more often or not it is criticized. I wish it was different and that people would post their unusual and interesting reps , when was the last time someone got their Picot , Millie, Graham or Dubuis out or something that was just out of the box or less than $150 job...

Let's shout it loud: every member is welcome, every photo is welcome, every watch too.

The very first goal of the wrist check is ...to check what is on everyone's wrist

The fact it is a right out of the box rep or a very high end franken or gen makes no difference at all in my humble opinion.

So, come on all of you, post them!

As a side note, I would not suggest the contest route...that is intimidating for sure.

[TeeJay]

For me, it's a desire to not bore people. I very rarely change the watch I'm wearing, other than for event/wardrobe specific pieces, and y'all know what my Tudor Sub looks like, so unless I change up the bracelet or strap, I figure why bore people with something they've already seen Maybe I should be more creative in my photography, and make the picture more about the daily activities or environment, rather than the watch itself... I'll have a think about what I could do to participate more

[plaifender]

I agree that maybe an everyday wristcheck is a bit overkill. We could possibly try to enforce a limit of a once a week check or something similar.

In regards to the forum.. I've also noticed that we're becoming the more VETERAN oriented forum on the net currently. Lots of our guys have been here since the first days of RWG1. I think our forum is possibly a bit more intimidating for noobs because of the ratio of qaulity/content post ratios here.

But seriously, on a forum of over 20,000 members.. I can't imgaine that there's not more people taking photos of their watches than us Vets.

Any noobs that can give us some input on this subject?

[hackR]

i post to the wristcheck thread in cycles...like others, i figure most know what i have...when i take "time off", i usually come back with new pix of my changing collection...and some of the "regulars" recognize that some are new - which is cool...i like to turnover my collection - but lately - i've settled a bit...over the holidays - when i find some quiet time, hopefully, i'll update my pix with the new pieces and the new mods...

one other point...i try to post a comment on the brand, model, etc...for those that use the search, this is helpful...that's a big value to any member contemplating a new piece or "researching"...

for us "regulars", i have to say --> i stalk robertk!...seriously terrific and diverse collection...definitely not the same ole, same ole...worth tuning in for IMO...

R-

[hiker01]

Maybe adding some body shots like this:

to our wristcheck:

will generate some traffic!

Waddya think????

[hackR]

Maybe adding some body shots like this...will generate some traffic!

Waddya think????

[mactower]

x2!

[TeeJay]

x2!

x3

[freddy333]

I find it odd that some sight a lack of variety for not posting. Why not put your money where your mouth is & add something new to the mix? For those who feel people are bored looking at the same 2 pics, you are right. Easy fix - take new pics. I get bored after seeing my own pics more than a few times, which is why I take new pics on a regular basis. With a digital camera, it takes all of 5-10 minutes to shoot a bunch of pics, decide on the best 1, crop it (if you feel the need), upload it to photobucket (or your choice of photo hosting sites) & post a wristie.

My only suggestions are to keep the final pic size reasonable (1024x768 or thereabouts), so others do not have to scroll all over the place to see your pride-in-joy & to not re-quote an entire set of pics (when commenting on someone else's pics) just to add a couple of words at the bottom.

[PeteM]

Funny I just posted on Robs thread about "wanting for Xmas"

I added I wanted to see more participation from the 'lurkers' and 'reader only' members...... then I read this !!

I personally think the key to this is getting guys to get more involved in any of the threads, the more they do the more they will feel comfortable posting in things like WristCheck as mentioned it takes no time really to take a quick pic and post using attached file button (Once its been resized!!!) or of course using PB or Flickr etc.

I know some forums will lapse your membership if you dont post in a certain time frame (2 a month etc) not that I endorse that...

Most pics I see arent true wristies (to me that is) as on the whole they tend to be old personal gallery shots or all arty looking, dont get me wrong I love those pics but maybe if the wristies were true wristies taken quickly on the day and on the wrist then the quality will be more of a level playing field and will give guys without great pic skills the confidence to post..

Maybe we need a little incentive.... voting maybe or something with Free VIP membership for 3 months or the like for the best noob shot or under certain number of posts etc

Ever notice that the Majority of them over a week are Rolex's !!

[wheaton26]

simple. everyday wrist checks are too much. fyi, it's a very cold 70°f in the bahamas today.

[drolson]

Inspired by this thread i just decidet to post another wristshot of my pam.... but as far as i can see there is no wednesday wristcheck.

But as far as i have come now i need to post those pictures :

[Jetpac]

I would love to participate, but i only have one watch at the moment!

[TeeJay]

Here's a fresh pic of the usual

[freddy333]

I would love to participate, but i only have one watch at the moment!

As it happens, the minimum requirement is 1 watch.

[PeteM]

As it happens, the minimum requirement is 1 watch.

Dont forget the wrist !!!

[Jetpac]

As it happens, the minimum requirement is 1 watch.

Haha should have seen that coming!

Fine, pictures you wil get in tomorrows thread

[FxrAndy]

Welcome Jetpac looking forward to it, it is not about what is new its about what you are wearing